UK/LUXEMBOURG – Thirty-five new investment funds have been announced by Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). Fourteen of the funds will be launched in the next three months, with the rest “subject to client demand”.

This will bring the number of Luxembourg funds run by GSAM to 60, which it says is a major upgrade of the range, following its conversion to UCITS III, the new cross-border passport for European funds meeting the criteria of the Undertaking for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS) directives.

The arrival of UCITS III was described as “a once in 20-year event,” by Suzanne Donohoe, co-head of GSAM Europe, announcing the launch in London. The UCITS III regime plays to the strengths of the group’s institutional investment capabilities, she added.

GSAM says UCITS III will enable smaller investors – both retail and institutional – to invest in strategies such as commodities futures, which were previously unavailable to them.

The first two funds to be launched are the Global Currency Portfolio, covering both fundamental and quantitative processes trading across 38 currencies, and the Commodities Enhanced Index Portfolio, which has a “semi-active” investment approach, with 100% exposure to the group’s commodity index, plus enhanced management.

Other funds to come are the BRICS Portfolio, investing in Brazil, Russia, India and China; three fixed income funds to deliver additional alpha, and five Flex funds, using quantitative equity strategies, including limited shorting. There will also be a Global Equity Target Alpha Portfolio.

These funds are seen as being attractive to local authority investors, as well as to fund packagers, fund distributors and the sub-advisory market.

The new range is currently registered for public distribution in the UK, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, with plans to register “in all the other major European markets in the coming months”.

GSAM has over $500bn in assets under management and reckons it is the eighth largest provider of cross-border funds with over $62bn in these assets.

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